US-China Trade Tango Continues: Talks Resume for Day Two in Stockholm

Some of the topmost economic officials from United States as well as China met in Stockholm on Monday for more than five hours of talks which were aimed at resolving longstanding economic disputes at the centre of a trade war between the top two economies of the world, seeking to extend a truce by the end of three months.

US-China Trade Talks Continue

Scott Bessent, the US Treasury Chief was a part of a US negotiating team that arrived at Rosenbad, the Swedish prime minister's office in central Stockholm, in the early afternoon.

He Lifeng, the Vice Premier of China was also seen at the venue on video footage, according to a Reuters report.

On August 12, China has to reach a durable tariff agreement with Trump's administration, after Beijing and Washington reached preliminary deals in May and June to end weeks of escalating tit-for-tat tariffs and a cut-off of rare earth minerals.

Negotiators from both the sides were seen exiting the office around 8 pm and they did not stop to speak with reporters, as per the report.

During a recent press conference with the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland, Trump touched on these talks saying, "I'd love to see China open up their country."

Global supply chains will face renewed turmoil from US duties snapping back to triple-digit levels that would amount to a bilateral trade embargo, without an agreement.

According to the US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that he did not expect "some kind of enormous breakthrough today" at the talks in Stockholm that he was attending.

Currently, the Stockholm talks are continuing after Trump's biggest trade deal yet with the European Union on Sunday for a 15% tariff on most EU goods that are exported to the US.

What Do Analysts Say?

According to trade analysts, another 90-day extension of a tariff and export control truce struck in mid-May between China and the United States was likely.

An extension would lead to planning for a potential meeting between Trump and Chinese President xi Jinping in late October or early November.

Also Read: India Sees Explosive Growth In Digital Payments: Over 65,000 Crore Transactions In 6 Years